Israeli Forces Fire Tear Gas at Palestinian Protesters, Several Suffocated

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi denounced the Israeli violence towards Palestinians and called upon Israel to move swiftly to calm tensions caused by clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian youth this week at al-Aqsa mosque.

Tear gas and rubber bullets were been fired by the police as the protesters showered them with stones in city neighborhoods around the Mount of Olives, including in Shaufat refugee camp. Jews visited the site in occupied east Jerusalem for the start of the Jewish New Year on September 13, sparking days of clashes between Muslims and Israeli police.

Elsewhere in Israel, a rocket fired from Gaza exploded in the border town of Sderot on Friday evening, the military said. He said the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest site in Islam should be for “Muslim prayer only”. The compound has seen frequent outbreaks of violence as a result.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rockets, which triggered a series of Israeli air raids on Gaza.

The clashes have left dozens of Palestinians wounded and tens of others have been detained for taking part in protests against the attacks against worshipers in al-Aqsa Mosque.

The status quo refers to the fact that the Temple Mount is under control of the Muslim Waqf, as it has been since 1967, and that only Muslims are permitted to pray at the site, though Jews and Christians may visit.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned that it would not tolerate rockets fired into Israeli territory.

“Increasing penalties for stone-throwing and more policing will only be partially effective”, Kobi Michaeli, an expert on Palestinians at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) told The Media Line.

Israel occupied east Jerusalem city in 1967.

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the aggression against Al-Aqsa protesters, saying this week that the mosque is a “red line” and that “we will not allow attacks against our holy places”. He said that by bringing explosive materials and rocks into the holy site, protesters had turned the “house of worship” into a “warehouse of terror”.

Netanyahu has publicly “declared war” on those who throw rocks and petrol bombs, and became even more adamant after an Israeli motorist died at the wheel on Sunday night, apparently as a effect of Palestinian stone-throwing, police said.

Protests also broke out in several locations across the West Bank.